Through the Years
by cybergirl26
Summary: I'm one of those people who absolutely hated the finale and its wicked messages about love, women & happiness. Anyways, this is my fix-fic. It starts at Ted's and Tracy's wedding.
1. Chapter 1

The last thing I need right now is another story to worry about, but I was waiting for my plane the other day and didn't want to re-read the last couple of chapters of my other two stories to get into them again, so I decided to jot down this idea I had since the horrible finale aired. It's my take on what could have been.

**TM&TM's Wedding**

Ted's and Tracy's wedding didn't at all resemble the big wedding Ted had fantasized about when they first started dating, and instead of a large reception, they simply retreated back to McLarens for a few more drinks.

Barney was watching Ted and Tracy having their first dance to a song from the jukebox, with Marshall and Lily swaying as well.

"I never thought we'd see the day." Robin commented as she sat down next to him.

"Ted's finally married." Barney nodded, "took him long enough."

"I know right? Who would have thought that Ted, of all people, would have two kids before finally tying the knot."

"Not me, that's for sure." Barney turned away from the dancing couples and eyed his ex-wife instead. They hadn't seen each other in forever, not in person that is. She seemed to be everywhere these days, anchoring the news, hosting events, and just being famous.

"Never thought I'd see the day of you becoming a dad either." Robin said, while turning her head towards him.

"Me neither."

They were silent for a moment and Barney realized that they didn't really have anything to talk about anymore, he hated it and just started rambling.

"Her name is Ellie. Her mom was overwhelmed with everything and signed her parental rights away…she was still in College, and hid the pregnancy from her family."

Robin pulled an eyebrow up, "I see some therapy sessions in her future."

Barney ignored her and kept talking, "I didn't even want her, you know? But then…holding her for the first time changed everything. I love her so much, it's indescribable."

Robin nodded, "I'm really happy for you Barney."

He noticed the strain in her voice and realized that this conversation wasn't easy for her.

"Two more Glen McKenna 35." He instructed Carl to break the silence.

"So can I get a selfie and an autograph?" he asked.

It made her laugh, "you've got plenty of pictures with a younger, hotter version of me, I would just use those to brag."

"Nah." He moved in and wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her close, while getting his phone out.

Her smile seemed forced, and he starred at the picture for a while.

"What's wrong?" he finally asked when he looked up.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You are so…solemn."

"You aren't exactly the spontaneous, crazy guy you used to be either."

He thought about it for a second, she was right. Caring for Ellie and the lack of sleep had made him lame. Something he had once vowed he'd never be.

"You know what, let's be our old selves for tonight." He proposed.

"What do you mean?" she asked while sipping on her scotch.

"Ellie's spending the night at my moms, it's the perfect night to have an awesome adventure."

"Barney…"

"Come on Robin, when was the last time you really had fun? Let's just let loose and enjoy ourselves."

"How?" she asked.

"Laser Tag? Clubbing? Cigar Lounge? Shooting Range? Strip Club? Your choice Scherbatsky."

"We are at Ted's wedding reception, we can't just bail." She replied.

"Please, Lily and Marshall got a babysitter that only stays until ten, and Ted and Tracy are spending the first night in ages away from their kids, they will want to get out of here quickly too. Come on Scherbatsky."

Robin was watching the others for a moment before she turned back towards him, "okay, let's do it, let's make this a night to remember…or not."

"Challenge accepted!" he exclaimed and slammed some bills on the counter to pay for their drinks.

…

"THIS is your version of a wild night? You are getting old Robin." Barney muttered while they waited in line to get ice-cream.

"I've been craving this for months." She defended her decision to come to Times Square and getting a scoop from this particular ice-cream parlor.

"Why didn't you get yourself some sooner?" he asked.

She shrugged, "counting calories mostly, knowing you are on national television each night will make you super conscious about what you eat."

"That's insane Robin." He shook his head, "you look amazing, an ice-cream cone every now and then won't change that."

"Says the guy who is always judging girls by their appearance and body-mass-index." She retorts.

"Hey, that's not true."

"It used to be true."

"I changed, you know that."

"I thought I did."

She turned away, and he sensed that he should better let her comment slide if they wanted to have a fun night.

"So which one should I get?" he asked instead.

…

"You have the worst aim I've ever seen." Robin teased him once they had arrived at the shooting range and had fired their first couple of rounds.

"Shut up, not everyone grew up playing with guns." He shot another round, missing once again.

"Are you trembling?" she asked amused.

"No." he defended himself.

"You are scared, aren't you?"

"I've got a kid at home Robin, I shouldn't be risking my life like this."

"The only life that's at stake right now is mine, who knows where your next shot will end up." She put her own gun down and came over, "I'll show you."

He handed her his gun and watched her as she positioned herself, "see how I keep my arms steady?"

He nodded, they were still wearing their clothes from earlier and seeing Robin shooting the gun with her tight dress was extremely sexy.

"Dude, you didn't even pay attention." She accused him.

"Yeah I did."

"But to the wrong part of my body."

He smirked, "you do look super hot in that dress."

She shoved the gun into his hands, "your turn."

He missed once again.

"Seriously, what am I doing wrong?" He asked. He had felt as if he was pulling of a James Bond move.

"You should probably take the jacket off for starters." She advised.

He did, followed by his tie.

"And now?" he asked as he rolled his sleeves up.

"Take the gun."

She stepped behind him and let her arms trail down his until they reached his hands, "you've got to stand still, okay?"

He nodded, but couldn't concentrate on the target at all. Her entire body was pressed against his, and he could smell her perfume, and feel her breath on his neck.

"Now aim." She instructed him.

Barney pulled the gun up and she kept her hands on his.

"You just got to pull the trigger." She whispered.

He did, and the recoil pushed his own body even more into Robins, who in return wrapped her arms around his waist to steady herself.

"See, that wasn't that bad." She exclaimed excited.

He nodded and put the gun down, before turning his head towards her.

It only took him a few seconds of watching her to make up his mind that he would kiss her.

He turned around, wrapped his arms around her waist, pushed her back a few steps until the wall stopped them, and dove down for a passionate kiss.

It might have been because he caught her off-guard, but Robin responded with equal vigor and they only stopped when they had to come up for air.

"What…what are you doing?" she was out of breath and looked as if her legs were about to give in.

He felt the same way, "I don't know."

And he honestly didn't. What were they doing out and about by themselves? After four years of barely seeing each other, after getting a divorce.

He didn't know what to say and leaned down to kiss her again, tenderly this time.

She didn't push him off and he slipped his tongue into her mouth ones again, meeting hers.

"This is insane." She whispered when they stopped.

"Insanely hot." He grinned.

"Yeah…but also insanely stupid." She replied.

He slowly started to stroke her sides with his hands, "we never had a backslide."

"Barney that isn't an excuse, if we…we would create a huge mess."

"How? We never see each other anyways, and you aren't coming around to gang events anymore either."

He noticed how she swallowed.

"Or is there someone else?" he asked.

She shook her head, "no, there isn't."

"Then let's be stupid for a night Robin." He whispered seductively.

He kissed her again, and felt how she grabbed onto his shirt, pulling him closer.

Deepening the kiss once again he started grinding against her, and she let out a muffled moan.

It made him grin against her lips, but she broke the kiss off, "but not here Barney."

He completely agreed, the staff was probably watching them via the security cameras as they spoke.

"My place?" he asked.

She nodded, and sidestepped him to get her purse.

Once inside the cab he told the driver he'd pay him double if he got them home in record time.

He turned back to Robin and started grinning before he wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her into another kiss.

His hand was under her dress far enough that his fingers were brushing her clit by the time the car came to a stop. Both needed a second to regain their composure before they were able to get out of the car.

It was the first time Robin entered the apartment since she moved out four years ago, and Barney could tell that it was intimidating her a little.

He cupped her face with his hands and kissed her again, pushing her towards the bedroom.

He was afraid that she would pick up on the little things lying around that gave away that he was a dad now, and that being reminded of Ellie would freak her out.

It didn't take her long to overcome her initial hesitation and soon they were frantically undressing each other.

"Rough?" he asked, it used to be their code word for sex that almost resembled fighting, he had never had sex like that with any other girl. Mostly because he was pretty sure it would get him arrested if he sprung that onto someone. But Robin had agreed to it right away when he first suggested it, and seemed to be just as turned on by the rawness of it as he was.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"Fluegelhorn is still the safe word." He muttered.

"I doubt we are going to start making use of that tonight." She replied.

Barney grinned and pushed her onto the bed, she started struggling right away, trying to get the upper hand, and he was hard within seconds. "Fuck, this will be awesome."

…

And it really was. At some point it went from relapse sex into personal revenge for her, and she started to really be out for his blood. Quite literally judged by the scratch marks on his back and upper arms.

He had never had sex like that before, so raw and real. It had gone on for most of the night, neither one of them wanted to be the first to admit defeat.

Looking back through the open bathroom door and seeing her sleeping soundly in his bed made him grin. They were both completely spent, and he would still be lying next to her if his mom wasn't about to drop Ellie off.

He had taken a quick shower, the water burning in his wounds, and was dressed in sweatpants and a plain t-shirt when the doorbell rang.

Robin didn't even stir and he quickly walked out of the bathroom and into the living room to let his mom in.

"Morning baby girl, I've missed you." He said as he took Ellie from his mom's arms.

"Judged by the numerous times she woke up last night I'd say she missed you too."

Barney grinned and kissed his daughters temple.

"I take it everything went fine?" he asked.

His mom nodded, she had noticed the women's purse by the door.

"Looks like you had a good night."

Barney grinned, his mom would have a fit if she knew that the girl sleeping in his bed right now was Robin.

"Awesome is more like it." He grinned.

"And she's still here, huh?" his mom croaked her neck, trying to see the bedroom.

"Yep, but don't worry, seeing this little one will send her running." Barney looked at his daughter, Robin wouldn't want to hang out with her ex-husband and his lovechild.

"You really shouldn't use your daughter to get rid of one-night-stands Barney. You really shouldn't even have meaningless hook-ups anymore at all." His mom lectured him.

"Didn't you mention some sort of get together you had to attend this morning?" Barney asked.

His mom rolled her eyes and turned around, eyeing the purse once more, "I am surprised a girl who can afford that kind of designer purse is willing to go home with a total stranger."

"Yeah, I will see you Sunday for lunch?" he asked while gently pushing her out of the door.

"As usual. Don't be late."

"I won't. Love you mom, and thanks for watching her last night."

"Love you too wuv, wuv. And you too, Ellie."

Barney smiled and finally closed the door.

He looked at his daughter for a second, her head was leaning against his shoulder and it looked as if she was about to doze off again.

"I am still tired too babe, how about we lay back down? Now there is someone else in the bed I want you to meet. She's a really good friend of mine…well, she's more of an acquaintance… no, that's not the right word. It's complicated. I don't know what we are right now, but she's very important to me, so it's important that you make a good first impression, okay? Can you do that for daddy? No meltdowns for a few hours?"

His daughter was completely unimpressed by his words, and Barney smiled, and walked back into the bedroom.

Robin was still fast asleep and he climbed into bed with her and put Ellie in the middle.

The baby kicked a little and he was afraid that she wouldn't go back to sleep after all but then she finally calmed down and dozed off.

Barney propped himself up and watched his daughter sleep next to Robin. Never in a million years would he have led Ellie sleep next to one of his conquests, but this was different.

Robin was family. Divorced or not, he always thought of her as a part of his family.

He wondered how she would react when she woke up to find the baby lying between them. Guess he would find out sooner or later.

It was sooner than later, Ellie only slept for another half an hour before starting to stir again, and the movement woke Robin up too.

She turned around and a "what the fuck?" escaped her mouth when she saw the infant lying there.

"No swearing in front of the baby." Barney laughed.

Robin rubbed her eyes, "you've got to be kidding Barney."

He grinned even wider and scooped Ellie up, placing her even closer to Robin so that their bodies were touching.

"May I introduce you two? Robin, that's my daughter Ellie. Ellie, meet your… aunt I guess, Robin."

Robin removed her hands from her face and eyed the baby, "hey."

Ellie smiled and tried to reach her face.

The scene melted his heart, and by the look on Robin's face, hers too.

"She likes you." Barney whispered.

Robin didn't respond.

"My mom just dropped her off, and I had hoped she would go back to sleep, but I guess that's off the table now."

"So you put her into bed with us? I could have crushed her Barney."

"First of all, I highly doubt you can move that fast this morning, and secondly, she's more resilient than she looks."

"I could have reached out and accidently pushed the self-destroy patch on her head."

"Relax Robin." Barney scooted closer and placed Ellie onto Robin's chest.

"You won't hurt her." He whispered, while Robin automatically moved her arms around the baby to steady her.

"Barney, you know I don't do babies."

"You are doing great. I will go and make us breakfast, okay? Just holler if you need me." He leaned down and planted a quick kiss onto her lips.

"Barney wait…don't…this isn't funny…" he ignored her and kept walking into the kitchen.

He couldn't help but grin stupidly the entire time while making scrambled eggs. He couldn't believe that Robin was still here, watching Ellie while he made them breakfast.

At one point he peeked into the bedroom to make sure they were okay. They were, Ellie was content just laying there and listening to Robin's heart beat, and Robin was holding her with one hand, while she stroke her cheek with the other.

He grinned even more when he returned to the stove. This was huge, Robin had never even held Marvin until he was much older, let alone was left alone with him.

"She looks just like you." Robin said when he got back into bed with them, putting the tray with their plates down.

"That's what everyone says." He grinned and picked Ellie up.

Robin sat up, wrapped the blankets tightly around her body and inspected the plates he had brought in.

"That looks really good Barney."

"I figured you could use some protein after last night."

Their eyes met and Robin started grinning and took a plate.

"Yeah, sorry about the scratching."

He grinned, "please. I knew what I got myself into when I suggested doing it rough, although I've never seen you so vigorous before."

"You weren't exactly gentle either." She pointed out.

"Guess we both had some anger bottled up, huh?" he asked.

Robin shrugged, "we never really talked about the divorce, you know?"

Barney nodded, and shifted Ellie around so he could eat too.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

Robin shook her head, "nah, why start with the feelings crap now."

Ellie started to complain and Barney put his fork down and held her up over his head, "are you hungry?" he asked while pushing her up and down.

Ellie laughed every time their faces almost touched and tried to hold onto his nose.

It made Robin laugh as well.

"She's pretty awesome, isn't she?" Barney asked.

"Yeah."

"Do you want to feed her?" he asked, glancing over to her.

Robin hesitated for a second before nodding and putting her plate down.

Barney placed Ellie back into Robin's arms, who immediately tried to make her laugh by making a funny face at her, and got the bottle from the nightstand next to him.

"It might still be a little hot." He said while testing the temperature of the milk.

"How long did it take you to learn all this?" Robin asked.

"Nah, I think that's okay." He handed her the bottle, "not that long, but I mean you kind of have to learn fast when you have a screaming newborn demanding food."

He watched her hesitate for a second but then she went ahead and gave Ellie her bottle.

"You are doing really well Robin." He encouraged her.

"This is not what I thought would happen when I decided to attend Ted's and Tracy's wedding."

"Life's full of surprises." He said while eating some scrambled eggs, "Ellie's the best example of that."

Robin looked down at the baby, and nodded, "isn't it crazy that she wouldn't be here if we hadn't gotten a divorce?"

Barney could sense the sadness in her voice, but he didn't know what to say. Her infertility had always been a sore topic they avoided talking about.

"What time is it?" Robin broke the silence.

"Almost ten, why? Do you have to be somewhere?" he asked.

She nodded, "I am flying out to Melbourne tonight."

"Oh wow, really? For how long?"

"Just a couple of weeks, but I will head to Spain afterwards."

Barney nodded, a part of him had hoped that she would be spending more time in New York again.

"That's great Robin, I am so glad you are living your dream."

She nodded but didn't look up.

Barney got Ellie once she was done eating, and Robin left soon afterwards. He stepped out onto the balcony and watched her haul a cap, wondering what might have been if she would be back in New York for good.


	2. Chapter 2

**This is a long one, and I'll start working on some updates on the other stories this weekend, so it might be a while until I update this again. Enjoy, and I would love to hear what you guys think :) **

**Spain**

His breaking point came when Ellie was four months old. He had been huddled up in the apartment for what felt like an eternity and was slowly but surely losing his mind.

He barely had any contact to adults anymore, and Ellie wasn't that exciting yet either. She had just started to really grab stuff and hold it up, and she had managed to roll from her stomach to her back, but that was about it.

He really couldn't wait for her to get older so he could have conversations with her, and teach her some magic tricks.

So he started to call people once Ellie was asleep, just to have a real conversation. Lily and Marshall were busy with their three kids, and even Ted and Tracy barely took the time to talk to him. It sucked.

That's why he ended up dialing Robin's number one Friday night, he had run out of options and was in desperate need of a normal conversation.

She answered right before the call would have gone to voicemail.

"Barney, what's up?" she sounded tired and he realized that he had probably woken her up.

"It's nighttime for you, isn't it? I am so sorry, I wasn't thinking. Are you still in Melbourne?"

"Nope, Barcelona. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, of course it is. I didn't mean to scare you by calling this late. I am sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"Why did you call then?" she asked confused.

"I don't know. I just wanted to talk to someone, and you were my last hope of having a real conversation tonight."

"What?"

"It's the baby, it gets lonely sometimes."

"What about the others?"

"They are too busy with their own kids."

"That sucks." Robin yawned.

"I should let you get back to sleep."

"Dude you have already woken me up, don't chicken out now."

"Chicken out of what?" he asked laughing.

"Whatever it was you wanted to talk about. How is Ellie doing?"

"She's awesome. Hold on, I will send you a picture I took today." He searched through his phone, "I mean, only if you want?"

"Course I do."

"You don't really, do you? I've heard you complain about all the baby pics Ted and Lily are spamming you with."

"It's fine Barney, just send me the pic so we can talk about it." She insisted.

He bit his lip, wondering whether these pictures were reminding her of the fact that she could never have what they had.

"Just send it." He whispered.

"Okay, give me a sec….oh, that's cute Barney. Although I don't get how biting the ear of a fuzzy Teddy bear is worth such a grin, I mean she must have gotten a whole mouth full of fuzzy stuff, right?"

"Apparently kids take everything into their mouth to gain a better understanding of the texture and stuff."

"Huh."

"I've licked worst." He grinned.

It made her laugh, "yeah, you are right, me too."

They were silent for a second before Robin asked, "so what's the deal with this talking-to-someone-call?"

"Being a single parent gets super lonely sometimes, I mean, I am stuck inside with Ellie all day long, and she doesn't talk yet. And even when I take her places, people are always just interested in her and are cooing over her. I miss having real conversations."

"Why don't you come to Barcelona and visit me?"

"What?" Barney asked surprised.

It took Robin a second to answer, which made him think that she had been just as surprised by her offer than he was.

"I mean, it might be a nice change of scenery for you guys, and the suite I've got has a guestroom."

"Are you serious right now?" Barney asked.

"I'd be working Barney, it's not like I would be around much."

"Are you serious or not?"

"Yes."

"Guess I need to get a passport for Ellie! And flights, man that's a long flight with a baby, but she's still not that much into moving around so it's probably going to be better to do something like that now rather than later when she's crawling."

"I am here for another two months, so no rush, you can come whenever you want and stay as long as you like."

"Are you absolutely sure about this Robin? I mean Ellie isn't a cry-baby per se, but she does cry. Loud. It'll probably wake you up even if she's in another room with me."

"It'll be fine Barney. Stop overthinking this, you will just Ted out if you do that."

"Speaking of which…I probably shouldn't tell the others where we are going, huh? It'll just lead to a whole bunch of life-lectures, and questions."

"Hell no, I do not need Lily calling me to ask me about my feelings towards you and Ellie. I'm just offering a friend, who happens to be my ex-husband, a place to crash and a break from his boring life."

"My life is pretty depressing, isn't it?" he asked.

"Well, most people think mine is too, so who cares." She replied.

"It's about to become a whole lot more awesome." He grinned, already thinking about all the adventures they could have together.

…

The flight from New York to Barcelona was a nightmare, and Barney swore he would just stay in Barcelona until Ellie was five or six so he wouldn't have to go through this again.

Robin had an interview to attend and couldn't pick them up, but she had arranged a car that brought them to the hotel.

"Oh wow, what happened to you?" Robin asked when he entered the room.

"What are you doing here?" he asked dazzled.

"The interview got pushed out, I just got back myself." She slipped out of her shoes, and came over to tip the bellboy.

"Hey Ellie." She stopped right in front of him, "so what happened?"

He shoved Ellie into her arms, knowing that she would probably refuse to hold her if he didn't force her.

Robin was clearly taken off-guard, and looked uncomfortable with the baby. Ellie on the other hand didn't mind being held by her at all and immediately went for her necklace.

"Ellie spit up three times."

"I can see that." Robin pointed at his suit.

"She cried a lot too, I am surprised the other passengers didn't throw us out."

He kneeled down and opened the suitcase to get a change of clothes for Ellie.

"Well you made it." Robin said, Barney nodded and got up, Robin was trying to stop Ellie from pulling on her necklace, but it was clear that she wasn't comfortable enough to really do something about it.

Barney came over and opened Ellie's hand so she would release the necklace, before getting her from Robin.

"I will give her a quick bath, you are still going to be here in ten, right?"

Robin nodded and showed him the bathroom.

"You can stay if you want." He suggested.

She smiled and leaned against the doorframe, "sorry you had such a bad flight."

"Well, as you said, the important thing is that we made it." Barney was undressing Ellie while simultaneously checking the temperature of the water.

"Yeah, and I am sure you are going to enjoy Barcelona. You should take her to the beach."

Barney nodded and placed Ellie in the tub, she immediately started jumping, "she loves water."

"I can see that." Robin grinned.

Ellie had finally calmed down and Barney was able to sit her down, holding her steady with one arm, "she can't quite sit by herself yet."

"She's grown a lot since I've last seen her though."

"You think so?" he asked while reached up to get a cup off the counter.

"Yeah, it's a huge difference. She still looks just like you though."

"That's what everyone says." He smiled.

Robin just watched him for a few minutes until Barney had put a diaper on Ellie and wrapped her up in a towel.

"How about I take her off your hands for a few minutes so you can get a shower?" Robin asked and stepped closer.

"Really? That'd be great." Barney handed her the new outfit, and then got up to hand Ellie over to her.

"Just make it quick, okay?" she didn't seem as much into the idea to be alone with the baby than she was a few seconds ago, and Barney couldn't help but grin.

"I'll be super fast, I promise."

Robin nodded and left the bathroom.

Barney kept his word, he didn't want Robin to feel overwhelmed with the baby, it was such a huge gesture to do this at all, especially since he knew how much babies scared her.

"Was that quick or what?" He asked when he exited the bathroom with only a towel around his waist.

"Very quick." Robin commented, she had put Ellie on the bed, and was sitting next to her.

"Okay now that I am not covered in spit-up, come here and let me greet you properly."

Robin hesitated, and Barney ensured her, "she won't move."

Robin nodded and got up to hug him.

"Thanks so much for letting us stay here." He whispered.

"No problem." Robin replied, before pushing him off her, "you smell good."

He grinned, he had purposefully bought the shower gel Robin used to love when they were married.

"Sorry… I don't know why I said that." She blushed a little, and pointed to Ellie's clothes on the bed,

"I think it's better if you dress her." Robin admitted and Barney got on the bed.

He nodded, part of him wanted to encourage her to do it, but he knew that she had already put herself out there by offering to watch Ellie while he took a shower and he didn't want to push her too much.

So he did it, but decided that he would teach her how to do it one of these days.

"Do you have to go back to work today?" he asked.

She nodded, "yeah, they just pushed the interview back a few hours."

"Don't worry about us, we will take a stroll and explore the neighborhood before ordering some room service and snuggling up in bed."

Robin grinned, "did you really bring a stroller?"

"Actually, I don't even own one. I just put her in the baby björn whenever I take her outside, maneuvering the stroller around in New York just seems like too much of a hassle."

Robin nodded, "I still have a hard time wrapping my head around you being a single dad."

"Me too, believe me." He replied.

They both smiled before Robin said, "I should get ready. You okay by yourself?"

"Yeah, good luck on that interview."

…

"Hey Barney?"

Dammit, Ellie must have woken Robin up. That was exactly what he didn't want to happen.

"Yeah?" he asked over his daughters cries, he glanced at the radio clock by his bedside, 3:24.

"Can I do something?"

"No, I am sorry she woke you up. I am trying to walk her back to sleep but she's just fuzzy. I think it might be the jetlag that is messing her up." He couldn't see her but he could tell that Robin had walked into the room.

"How about I walk her for a little while? You must be exhausted." She suggested.

Barney swallowed, her offer melted his heart a little. Things had been so screwed up between them, but Robin was really trying here.

"Would you?" he asked, knowing that he had to meet her half way if they were going to work on their friendship.

"I just have to hold her and walk right?" Robin asked.

"Maybe bounce her a little and hum something, but yeah pretty much."

"I can do that." Robin had reached him and her hands were slowing feeling around for his arms.

He handed the baby over, "you got her?"

"Yep."

Ellie's cries grew louder, she had definitively noticed that she wasn't in her fathers arms anymore.

"Just start walking, she will calm down." He instructed her. At least he really hoped so for Robin's sake.

He sat back down on the bed and listened to Robin whispering to Ellie. Eventually she started to softly sing "Sandcastles in the Sand" to her, and Ellie's cries died down.

Barney fell asleep quickly listening to her singing his favorite song.

…

"Robin?" he asked.

She didn't answer. Great, he had handed the baby over and totally bailed on her.

He found her in her own bedroom, sitting on the couch, with Ellie fast asleep in her arms.

"Hey." He whispered before sitting down next to her.

"Hey."

"I am so sorry I fell asleep, you should have woken me up."

"Why? The whole point of me taking her was so that you could get some sleep." She replied, still whispering.

He leaned back, "thank you, this is the first time since she's born that someone gave me a break like that…I mean she has stayed at my moms twice, but I never had someone there to help out at night."

"Barney?"

"Yeah?"

"I only did it because I know you had a rough flight, and could use a little break. That's why I invited you to come here too. I'm not trying to play family or pretend we are something we clearly aren't."

He nodded, but couldn't resist asking, "but you like spending time with Ellie, right?"

"You know I'm not a kids person Barney, and she's still your daughter. It's kinda weird."

"What I meant was, you are going to be a part of her life, right? She needs a female role model to look up to, and you are by far the best one she could wish for."

She didn't reply right away, "I'm not even a part of the gang anymore, you can't really expect me to play an active part in your daughters life."

"I don't expect anything Robin."

They were silent again. There was so much they hadn't talked about, their recent one-night-stand, whether seeing Ellie reminded her of her own infertility, and most importantly, their divorce. But he knew that this wasn't the time to sort all that out.

"Do you want me to take her? I can probably get her back to bed without waking her up." Barney suggested.

"It's fine, I tried putting her down a while ago and she immediately started crying again. I don't mind sitting here with her."

Barney nodded and scooted closer so that their shoulders were touching and he was able to gently stroke Ellie's leg.

"How did your interview go?"

"Good." Robin replied.

She clearly didn't want to talk about it, which was most likely due to his lack of interest in her job when they were married.

They just sat there for a long time before Robin finally broke the silence, "I don't want you to think that I don't care about you or Ellie…it's just not my world Barney."

"I know, I get it."

"I just want to make sure that you didn't come here with the hopes of making me Ellie's stepmother."

"Would that be so bad?" he asked.

"We are divorced for a reason." She replied.

"Yeah, no I know. I'm just wondering…I mean, you didn't even call or write a mail when Ellie was born, and I've always wondered whether that was because your _ex-husband _became a dad, or because your ex-husband became a _dad._"

"Where is the difference?" she asked.

"Well, does it bother you that I have a kid while you can't?" He could feel his heart in his throat, part of him couldn't even believe he actually asked.

"I choose my career over my marriage Barney, I am clearly not out to have a family of my own."

"Sometimes people make mistakes. And your infertility has always had a large toll on you." He whispered.

Robin didn't reply right away and he was imagining her to plot out scenarios in her head on how she could get out of this conversation.

"As I said, I could have gone the family route in Argentina, but I didn't."

"Do you ever regret that decision?" he asked softly.

"Do you?" she replied.

He nodded, "yeah sometimes, letting you go was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life."

"It was for the better though, we both got what we truly wanted."

"I meant what I said Robin, I was okay with not having kids."

"Yeah, but seeing you now with Ellie makes me realize that you could have never been this happy with me, and that the divorce was for the best."

"Not just for my sake so, right? I mean you are truly happy with how your career is going now too." Barney asked.

"Yeah, I'm where I always wanted to be."

Barney nodded and leaned back, ready to drift back to sleep right then and there.

…

He didn't see Robin until the next night, when she came home while he was in the middle of feeding Ellie.

"Hey there." Robin greeted them.

"Hey," Barney replied.

"How was your day?" she asked as she dropped her purse and slipped out of her shoes.

"Great, Ellie and I went to the beach." Barney pulled his phone out, pulled a picture up and handed it to her.

"Oh, that's really cute. Looks like she had a good time, huh?"

"Yeah, she wasn't sure about the sand at first but then she enjoyed it."

"I'm glad you had a good day."

"How was your day?" Barney asked.

"Stressful."

Barney hesitated for a second before asking, "how about we go out and grab something to eat?"

"Sure, that sounds good, just let me change into something more comfortable."

Barney nodded and watched her disappear into her bedroom. He turned back to Ellie and grinned, "let's show Aunt Robin a good time, what do you think?"

…

"Do you mind if we stop at a boutique for a second? I want to see if they have a dress I can wear to the gala on Sunday." Robin asked as they strolled through the city.

"Not at all, it'll be Ellie's very first dress shopping." Barney kissed his daughters hair and grinned at Robin while whispering, "now pay attention baby, this will come in handy later in life."

"Like when she picks out dresses to go clubbing?" Robin asked amused.

"No. She won't do that. Maybe a prom dress, given she takes me as her date."

Robin laughed and leaned down to Ellie, "don't worry Ellie, just come to me when he gets overprotective or crazy about the boys you like, and I will talk to him."

Barney grinned, "see, she really does need you in her life."

"Sounds like it." Robin grinned.

…

"What do you think?" Robin asked while holding a dress up.

He shrugged, "isn't that a little short?"

"Barney Stinson is complaining about a girl wearing a dress that's too short?"

"I'm just saying, it's not very professional to wear something like that to a work event."

"I'm working in television Barney." She replied.

He shrugged, "the color matches your eyes."

"I'll try it on, okay?"

He nodded and watched her hurry towards the fitting rooms. He followed a little slower with Ellie, who was surprisingly happy being carried around.

"What do you think?" she asked moments later.

"It's hot." It was the first thing that came to his mind.

"Perfect!" Robin grinned and swirled around one more time, the light fabric flowing around her.

Barney had to force himself to look at Ellie, this was turning him on way more than his ex-wife trying on a dress should.

"I will take it." Robin said before disappearing into the fitting room.

…

"You know there is a specialty store for European made suits right around the corner." Robin said when they exited the boutique.

"That's all right."

"What? Did you listen what I just said? There is a specialty store for suits right there." Robin asked surprised.

"Yeah, but Ellie and expensive suits don't match well."

"Well, how about I take her from you for an hour then?"

"Seriously?" Barney asked surprised. He hadn't gone suit shopping since Ellie was born.

"I mean, only if you trust me alone with her?"

Barney immediately handed Ellie over, "don't be silly, I'd make you her godmother right away if you'd let me."

Robin rearranged Ellie on her arm and took the diaper bag from him, "let's start with this shopping trip, meet you here in an hour?"

Barney nodded and kissed Ellie on the head, "be good baby girl, don't scare Robin off."

"Just go Barney." Robin said, Barney grinned and kissed her on the cheek, "thanks Robin."

"Go."

Barney nodded and headed in the direction Robin was pointing at.

…

Barney sat down on the bench, the bag with the new suit carefully draped over it. He made sure to be a little early, but Robin and Ellie weren't in sight yet.

He wondered if Robin had regretted her decision to take Ellie for an hour yet, and whether or not his little girl had a meltdown.

"You found one, huh?" Robin had sneaked up on him.

"Yeah…oh wow, looks like you guys were successful too."

Barney jumped up and grabbed some of the bags from her.

"I figured I'd take her to the department store to check out the toys, but then we had to go through the kids clothing floor…and well." Robin shrugged.

Barney peeked into one of the bags and pulled one of the very cute dresses out, "dang Robin, how much do I owe you?"

"Nothing stupid."

"No seriously Robin, you must have spend a fortune on stuff for her." Barney looked back up and caught Robin kissing Ellie's hair.

"I'm a correspondent for a major network without any big expenses, I can afford buying some baby clothes as a gift Barney."

"But this is too much."

"I had a really good time Barney, I mean when do I ever have the chance to buy baby stuff?"

Barney realized that she was referring to her infertility and it stung a little.

"Has she been good?" he asked to change the topic.

"Great. She helped pick things out." Robin looked down at Ellie who had nested her head against her shoulder.

"Well, thank you for watching her, and for taking her on her first shopping spree."

"You are welcome, both of you."

She was about to hand Ellie back to him, but Barney just grabbed the bags, "I think she wants to stay with you."

Robin grinned and lead the way to a nice restaurant by the water where they ate together.

…

He had just gotten Ellie to sleep when he decided to see if Robin was still up. Watching her swirl in that dress, gently kissing Ellie, and having fun at dinner together, left him wanting more.

And they had just recently hooked up anyways, where was the harm in one more backslide?

"Robin? Can I come in?" her door was ajar, but she didn't answer and he contemplated whether he should just walk in or go back to his own room.

He decided to step into her room, "Robin?"

She wasn't there, but light was coming from her bathroom.

He hesitated for a second before going forward, gently knocking on her door, "Robin? Can I come in?"

"Ähh…sure." Came the answer.

He pushed the door open; Robin was lying in the bathtub, smoking a cigarette.

"What's up?" She asked while exhaling the smoke.

His jar dropped, "I…do you want a honest answer or a made-up one?"

"Honest."

"I'm horny and was hoping that I could charm you into fooling around a little."

It made her laugh, "wow, that's bold."

He came closer and knelled down next to the tub, taking the cigarette from her to take a drag himself, "so?"

She splashed him.

He took it as an invitation to play around and since he was only wearing a plain t-shirt and his pajama bottoms he didn't really mind to get wet either.

After putting the cigarette out he reached out and cupped her head with his hand, pulling her into a kiss.

Robin giggled against his lips and wrapped her hands around his upper arms, pulling him into the tub.

He let it happen and landed on top of her.

Feeling around under water he found the ceramic and pushed himself up, not breaking the kiss just yet.

Her hands had moved into his hair, and pulled him closer.

Ellie's muffled cries made them stop.

"You've got to be kidding." Barney mumbled while looking into Robin's eyes.

"Maybe she'll go back to sleep alone?" Robin asked.

But Barney could tell that her cries had reached the level where she wasn't going to simply go back to sleep.

"Shit." He pushed himself up and got out of the tub, pulling his soaked t-shirt over his head.

"I'll wait up." Robin said right before he left the bathroom.

Ellie calmed down as soon as she was in her dad's arms, and Barney started to walk her back to sleep. It took forever and Barney figured that Robin had long gone to bed.

The lights were still on in her bedroom and he started grinning, maybe she hadn't after all.

He pushed the door open and found her lying in bed, propped on one arm, grinning at him.

"That took forever." She commented.

He nodded and quickly closed the distance between them. Robin held the sheets up and he slipped under them, immediately closing his arms around her.

"I wasn't sure you'd still be up for it."

Robin grinned, "me neither."

Their lips met and Barney pulled her closer while Robin pulled the sheets over them.

It wasn't at all like their last one-night-stand, instead of rough and raw it was romantic and sensual. They kissed for most of it, and were holding each other afterwards.

He got up after Robin fell asleep and checked on Ellie, who was asleep. He decided to take her to the other room with him instead of leaving her here by herself and scooped her up.

He build a little barrier with pillows so she wouldn't roll out of bed and then climbed in-between her and Robin.

…

Ellie's soft cues woke Robin up first, but her turning did the same for Barney.

"Is that Ellie? Is she in bed with us again?" Robin asked dazzled.

"Yeah, I got her earlier." Barney scooped Ellie into his arms, "I can probably get her back to sleep."

"Why didn't you just go back to your room?" Robin asked.

It felt as if he had been sucker punched.

"What?" he asked, barely audible.

"I mean, why bring the baby over here? Wouldn't it have been easier to just go back to your room?" she clarified.

"It didn't seem right to leave." He replied.

"All there is between our rooms is the living room, it's not like you would have flown back to New York."

"Yeah, right." Barney sat up, "I just thought…never mind." He climbed out of bed.

"Are you mad?"

"No. No, I get it. It's nothing."

"Barney I thought it was clear what this was. I mean, you said it yourself, you were horny…that's all, right?" Robin reached and got hold of his elbow.

He wanted to tell her that it was all this was, but he couldn't.

"Robin we didn't just fuck, you know that."

She didn't say anything, but let go of his arm.

Ellie was still in his arms, squirming around, clearly getting frustrated that he wasn't moving.

"Are you going to say something?" he finally asked.

"If you tell me how I will get her bottle while you lay back down."

He hesitated, not sure whether he should accept her peace offer or leave.

"You are avoiding my question." He finally said.

"It's three-forty in the morning and your daughter is hungry, I don't think this is the right time to discuss this Barney."

"It never is." He got up with Ellie and left her behind.

Robin didn't follow him into the kitchen as he had hoped she would and that made him even angrier.

…

She was long gone when he got up the next morning, not even bothering to leave him a note like she'd always done when they were married and fighting.

He put Ellie on her blanket and slopped down on the couch, taking in his surroundings.

They really needed to talk about the divorce, he felt like that was the core issue between them.

Maybe it was just him, but he had really enjoyed all three of them spending time together, and part of him hoped for a reunion. He could totally see her being Ellie's stepmother, and them having what they never thought they could: a real family.

But he wasn't sure whether that was something Robin had thought about or not. She was great with Ellie, much better than she'd ever been with Marvin. And it seemed as if she was enjoying being around her. Especially considering the divorce, how many women would be this affectionate towards the love child of their ex-husband.

But there were too many issues stemming from the divorce between them to really go forward and they needed to start talking about it.

…

Robin clearly avoided him for the next two days, leaving early and coming home late at night.

He waited up for her on the third night, determined to talk to her about things.

It was 1:14am when Robin finally opened the door to the suite.

"Oh hey." She was clearly surprised that he was still up.

"Hey."

"What are you doing up so late?" she asked.

"I waited for you."

She nodded, "work's been crazy these last couple of days…"

"Can we talk for a second?" he asked.

She hesitated but finally sat down.

"I don't want things to be awkward between us Robin. I mean, I've really enjoyed spending time with you again."

"It's awkward Barney, and that's completely normal, I mean we are divorced for god's sake, we have so much history together, we can't just go back to being friends like this whole marriage thing never happened."

"I know, but we can start fresh."

Robin shook her head, "no, we can't. It's not just us anymore Barney, you have a child now, and it's not fair to drag her into our dysfunctional relationship."

"So what? You just want to disappear again? Pretend like you never lived in New York? That you never had friends there? That you were never married?" he was angry and his tone clearly depicted that.

"Barney people evolve."

"You are just running away Robin. But where to? Where do you hope to end up one day?"

She turned away, "that's not important Barney."

He looked at her, really looked at her, and realized what the divorce had done to her.

"You are scared to love again, aren't you?"

"What? Barney we slept together, that's it."

"Except it wasn't. But you are too scared to admit it to yourself, so your tactic is to run again."

"Whatever Barney."

They just sat there for a minute, and he contemplated how he should proceed from here on out. Keep arguing? Or try to salvage whatever was left of their friendship.

"I want us to be friends Robin."

"We can never just be friends."

"Yes, we can. Let me prove it to you, okay? Let's pretend the other night never happened and Ellie and I just got here."

She shrugged.

"We can do this." He said once more before leaning over and kissing her cheek, "good night Robin."

He had already reached the bedroom door when she started talking.

"I don't want to be anyone's mother Barney. If we give this friends thing another try then you need to get that fantasy out of your head. I get that you want her to have a mom, and a happy family. I really do. But I'm not the right person for that role. Ellie is great, I don't want you to think that this is about her, or the way she came into this world. It's not. It's about me, and how this whole concept is just not for me."

He turned around and they locked eyes, "okay," he finally said before turning back towards the bedroom and leaving her alone.

…

"I know you have the gala tonight, but you are off tomorrow, right? I thought maybe we could do something together?" Barney asked over breakfast.

Robin nodded, "sure, what did you have in mind?"

"Nothing big, just hang out together? I'd like to take one of those sightseeing buses around the city."

"That's a bit too touristy for me." Robin replied.

Barney grinned, "of course, what would you like to do then?"

Robin shrugged, "no clue. I'd like to take a boat over to Mallorca and check it out, but that'd be a long day for Ellie."

"She can just sleep in the baby björn, she does it all the time." Barney replied.

Robin shrugged, "yeah but still, we should probably do something baby friendly, right? Maybe the beach? You said she enjoyed that, right?"

"Yeah she did, but seriously Robin, whatever you want to do is fine."

"I haven't done a real beach day yet, it'll be fun." She ensured him while getting up and putting her bowl into the sink.

"Perfect."

"I'll see you guys later."

…

They lucked out with the weather, it was extremely hot but Robin knew of a beach that was a little deserted.

Barney left Ellie with her to get something to drink and when he came back Robin had taken her clothes off and was only wearing a bikini, sitting in the shallow water with Ellie who was excitingly splashing the water.

"This is perfect." Barney commented as he handed her the water.

"I know, I can't believe it got this warm."

Barney nodded and sat down behind Robin, placing his legs to either side of her body and pulling himself closer by wrapping his arms around her waist.

"What are you doing?" she giggled.

"Trying to tickle Ellie, what else would I be doing?" he asked innocently while tracing her arms down to her hands and Ellie's upper body.

Robin leaned back against his chest and closed her eyes, "this is nice."

"No kidding." he had a clear view down her bikini top from this angle.

"Barney?"

"Hmm?"

"We are overstepping the friends line again."

Ellie was still splashing the water she was sitting in.

"We are just sitting here, playing with Ellie."

"You are half-hard already."

He laughed and contemplated whether he should move back, but opted to move forward instead, pressing himself closer to her back.

"I've got a great view." He mumbled while kissing her shoulder and letting his hands fall from Ellie back to her body.

"Your daughter is literally two inches away from us." Robin replied.

"She doesn't know." He replied while letting his hand slip into her bikini bottom.

Robin got up, pulling Ellie with her and into her arms.

"You aren't really good at convincing me that we can be just friends." She said while standing over him.

"You are wearing a very hot bikini, besides, you are enjoying this just as much as I am."

"Not when Ellie is nearby."

"She doesn't know what's going on." He defended himself while taking his daughter from her.

"How about you show her how to build a sandcastle."

He couldn't help it and laughed out loud.

"Oh jeez, really Barney?" she asked.

"I think you should teach her all about sandcastles in the sand." He snickered.

…

"Last night." He declared as he came back into the living room after putting Ellie down for the night.

Robin nodded, "time flew, huh?"

Barney sat down next to her, "sure did. I had a great time, thanks so much for letting Ellie and me stay here."

"Anytime, I had fun."

Barney nodded, "me too."

"And hey, we only hooked up once this entire time, that's pretty good all things considered."

"Time's not over." He winked at her.

It made her laugh, "I think we are better off if we don't complicate this whole thing further, don't you?"

Barney shrugged and pulled her against himself, kissing her temple, "thanks again Robin."

She put her arms around his stomach and asked, "how about we watch some TV?"

He nodded and grabbed the remote.

And so he spend his last night in Barcelona watching a documentary on BBC while cuddling with his ex-wife, feeling sad that she'd be out of his life again come the next day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanksgiving**

"Go for Barney." Barney held his phone with his chin and shoulder while simultaneously preparing applesauce for Ellie.

"Hey it's me, how are you doing Barney?" Lily asked.

"Pretty good, Ellie is finally recovering from her cold." He looked over his shoulder to Ellie, who had just turned seven months and had started to pull herself up on things, as well as crawling around.

"I'm glad, sounded like you two had quite a few sleepless nights there."

"No kidding, but she only woke up once last night, and is a lot happier today."

"Good. Listen, I just got an interesting call."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, Robin called from Ecuador, she wanted to see whether or not we were still doing Thanksgiving together."

"Seriously?" Barney asked surprised, Robin hadn't attended any holiday gatherings since the divorce.

"Yeah, I told her that we'd be hosting this year and that she'd be more than welcome to come. I hope that's okay with you? I know you guys aren't really on the best of terms right now, but what was I supposed to say? She actually wanted to come and see us, I couldn't deny her that, she used to be my best friend."

"Relax Lily, I'm not mad or so. I'm actually looking forward to seeing her again."

"Are you sure?" Lily checked.

"Yeah." Barney had never told the gang that he and Ellie had visited Robin in Spain.

"I mean it'll probably be awkward, with Ellie being there and everything, but we will be there too and all the other kids. I can sit her far away from you guys."

"Lily don't stress about it. We might not have a lot of contact these days, but Robin and I are good, in fact I'd love to catch up with her."

"She'll meet Ellie too. I'm really surprised she called and asked to come. I mean…that's a huge step after barely talking to us at all these years."

"Maybe she happens to be in New York or so."

"Yeah, maybe."

"That'll be fun, is she going to spend the night out there as well?" Barney asked.

Lily and Marshall had recently bought a nice house in Westchester as well, bringing them closer to Ted and Tracy, but also out of the city again.

He and Ellie were going to stay at Lily and Marshall's house that night, and they had all planned to get breakfast together the next day.

"Well, I offered her to stay the night, but I think I caught her off guard with it. She said she'd let me know."

"I hope she does, I want her to be part of the gang again. I hate that she isolated herself from all of us after the divorce."

"I know, me too. But maybe she's coming around now." Lily guessed.

Barney nodded and pulled the applesauce off the stove, he really hoped so.

…

Getting everything packed and Ellie ready had taken longer than he had planned, and so he was way too late when he rushed into Lily and Marshall's house.

"Hey, there you are." Everyone was sitting in the living room, and the kids were outside, trying the new tire swing Marshall had just recently installed.

"Yeah sorry I'm late." Lily got up to take the grocery bag with the desert pies from him.

Robin got up as well, "hi Barney."

"Hey, can you hold her for a second, I still got the bags in the cab." He handed Ellie over to Robin, who didn't hesitate to take and greet her.

"Hey babygirl." Ellie laughed and grabbed her nose.

Barney smiled and turned around to run back out.

Lily entered the living room again at the same time he came back through the front door.

"Here, let me get her." Lily immediately went over to Robin to take Ellie from her when she noticed what was going on.

Robin turned slightly away from her, "it's okay, I got it."

Barney had to turn away to conceal his grin. He hadn't even thought about it when he had shoved Ellie into Robin's arms since he'd done it so many times in Barcelona. But of course the gang didn't know that, for all they knew Robin had just met her ex-husbands love child a minute ago.

"I know you got it." Lily slowly replied, pausing for a second, and then adding, "I'd just like to greet her too."

Robin hesitated but finally handed Ellie over.

"Hey there, sorry about that." He pulled Robin into a hug.

"It's fine."

"Hey guys." Barney said in the round.

Everyone seemed to be watching every move Robin and he made and Barney realized that they would probably do so all night.

"Robin was just telling us about Ecuador."

"Oh really? How long were you there?" Barney asked as he and Robin sat down as well.

They talked about Robin's traveling for a while, then about all the kids development and their plans for Christmas.

Ellie was crawling around on the floor, and pulled herself up in front of Robin at one point.

Robin and Ellie looked at each other for a second before Tracy picked her up, asking "what are you doing?"

Barney noticed how Robin continued to look at the spot where Ellie had been and realized that the gang's behavior was hurtful.

"Let Robin hold her." He blurted out before thinking about it.

Robin waved it off, "I actually got her something too…you know I got something for all the kids."

She got up and went over to her bag.

"Yeah, Daisy and Marvin got books about Spain and Ecuador." Marshall explained.

Barney nodded, they had spent some time in a bookstore in Barcelona together, picking out a goodnight book for Ellie. He still read it to her every night.

"Here." Robin handed him a package that was clearly not a book, but rather something soft. Maybe a blanket, he guessed.

"Thank you Robin, you didn't need to get her anything." He said while starting to rip the paper.

"I know, but I wanted too." She sat back down next to Tracy.

It was a pink down jacket from Ralph Lauren.

"Wow, that's really cute, and perfect for the colder months ahead." Barney exclaimed, clearly excited about the gift.

"I hope it fits her." Robin said.

"It might be a little big, but it's perfect." He noticed how everyone had stopped talking and was watching him.

He decided to ignore them and get up instead to hug her, "thank you Robin."

...

Dinner had been chaotic with all the kids at the table, and the movie they watched afterwards wasn't much better.

He kept glancing over to Robin, but she was just starring at the TV, probably not even watching the movie at all. He brought Ellie up early, she was getting tired and not old enough to really understand the concept of sitting still to watch a movie anyways.

Ted, Tracy and their kids left around ten pm, and while Marshall and Lily wrestled their three kids into bed, Barney and Robin decided to head up as well.

They said their good nights to Lily and Marshall and headed into their separate rooms. Barney checked on Ellie, who was sleeping soundly in her travel crib, and then waited an hour until he couldn't hear anything before sneaking over to Robin's room.

He knocked gently before slipping inside, "are you still up?"

"Yeah." Robin whispered back and he closed the door behind him and carefully made his way over to the bed.

"Everything okay?" he asked as he climbed on top.

"Yeah."

"I just wanted to thank you again for the jacket, that's a really nice gift."

"Don't mention it, I had fun picking it out." She replied.

They didn't say anything for a few seconds until Barney started talking again, "I'm sorry the others were so protective of Ellie tonight."

"I get it. They don't know that I've spend time with her before, and they think that I'm terrified of babies."

"Still, I'd hoped you'd get to bond with her a little more." He confessed.

Robin laughed, "you can't blame them for thinking that I don't want to bond with my ex-husbands lovechild."

"I know."

Suddenly they heart Ellie's cries, and Barney sighed, "she's probably hungry…hey, wanna come and spend some quality time with her?"

"Yes, I would like that."

He grinned and got off the bed. She used her cellphone as a flashlight and lead the way to the door. Just when Barney was about to open it they heard Marshall's voice in the hallway.

"Lily no, come back to bed. I'm sure he's got everything under control."

Barney sighed, he couldn't just walk out of Robin's room when they were hovering in the hallway.

Robin put her arms on his waist and moved closer to hear something too, Barney couldn't help but think that maybe she wasn't just planning on spending one-on-one time with Ellie, but also with him.

"This doesn't sound as if he's got this under control." They heard Lily hiss back.

"He's been taking care of her by himself for eight months now, I think he got this. Come on Lil, I don't want him to find you lingering in front of his room."

Lily was clearly still protesting but Marshall seemed to be pulling her along anyways. Robin slipped between Barney and the door and opened it a bit, she couldn't see them and motioned Barney to follow her.

"Hey baby girl, sorry that took so long." Barney whispered while he picked Ellie up.

Robin was standing next to him, and gently stroked Ellie's thin, blond hair.

"She still looks just like you." She whispered.

Barney grinned and kissed his daughters head.

"Why don't you lay down with her while I run downstairs and prepare a bottle?" Barney asked.

Robin nodded, and climbed into his bed. Barney placed Ellie on her chest and watched as Robin put her arms around her little body.

"She's grown so much since last time." She whispered.

Ellie was fumbling around and got a hold of Robin's tank top, yanking it down far enough for a nipslip.

"Woah." Robin quickly pulled her top back up, and Barney laughed.

"That's my girl! Getting daddy some eye candy, huh?" he leaned down and kissed his daughters cheek, purposefully brushing against Robin's breast with his cheek while doing so.

Robin laughed and placed her hand around his neck, "you are an idiot Barney."

He was still looking at Ellie, but started grinning immediately, the way she'd said it left no doubt that that phrase hadn't lost its original meaning.

He put his head to the side so he could look at her, she was still grinning and Barney went ahead and placed a quick kiss onto her lips.

Ellie was yanking on her top again when he came up, so Barney said, "I better hurry, looks like she's determined to get some milk one way or the other."

Robin laughed, "she doesn't know what she's doing, right?"

"It's probably instinct." Barney replied.

He had already reached the door when he heard Robin whisper, "that's really sad."

"What is?" he asked as he turned around.

"Everything…I mean if she's instinctively doing this… she can't understand why it doesn't work that way. It's kind of sad that she's growing up without a mom Barney."

Barney nodded, "I know."

"Not that you aren't everything she needs, you are doing an amazing job Barney. But just…the little things."

Barney nodded, he got it.

"It's like me growing up without a dad, just worst." He whispered.

Robin and his eyes met, and he could sense that she was about to say something that would turn the entire night from fun to serious, and he didn't want that. He didn't want to talk about this now, so he slipped out of the room as quickly as possible to avoid it.

He was just measuring the formula when Lily appeared behind him.

"Hey," he greeted her.

"Hey, everything okay? I heard Elli cry."

"Yeah, she's just hungry."

Lily looked around the kitchen, "did you leave her upstairs?"

"Yeah she's on the bed." He had almost added, with Robin, but caught himself before he did so.

"Barney what if she rolls off." Lily was already halfway through the kitchen when he called after her.

"Lily stop, she's fine. You don't need to go get her."

"She's moving around a lot now Barney, you can't just keep her lying on the bed and think she won't fall off." Lily lectured him.

"I know that Lily, she won't fall off, trust me."

She didn't look convinced, but came back over to him anyways.

"Robin got her a nice gift." Lily changed the topic.

Barney nodded and put the milk in the microwave, "yeah, she did."

"Do you think she was trying to convince us that she's not bothered by Ellie, and that's why she went overboard with the gift?" Lily asked.

"I think you are overthinking this."

"I don't know, Barney, I mean she's never met her before today, yet she went all out to get her something really nice."

"What's your point?"

"She's trying really hard to be part of the group again, and maybe she thinks that the only reason she wouldn't be is Ellie, so she tries too hard to convince us that she's fine with her ex-husbands love child."

"It's just a jacket."

"She held her too Barney. She never held any of the other kids when they were that young." Lily pointed out.

"Maybe she just had more experience with small kids."

"You mean like dating a man who had small children?" Lily asked.

"Who knows." He shrugged.

Barney took the milk out of the microwave and poured it into the bottle with the formula.

"She was really bothered by you flirting with other chicks…the night of the Halloween party that is." Lily mumbled.

Barney raised an eyebrow, Lily had never mentioned that to him before.

"I really think that she is trying to convince us that she's fine with how things played out."

Barney shook the bottle and looked at Lily, "I'd love for her to come to group events again. I didn't think today was awkward at all, do you?"

"No, it went really well. You couldn't even tell that you two have that much unresolved history together."

"Told ya." Barney grinned.

"I hope she comes around more too. You should really head up Barney, I'm nervous about Ellie lying on the bed by herself."

"Night Lil." He grinned and walked past her.

…

"Come here." Barney lay down beside Robin and pulled Ellie in the middle, handing her the bottle.

"Wow, she can do that by herself now, huh?" Robin asked as she propped herself up an her elbow.

"Yeah, I only give her a bottle at night now too, all the other meals are solid."

"She's growing so fast." Robin said while stroking Ellie's leg.

Barney had wanted to turn the nightlight out, but decided to leave it on a little longer.

"I'm glad you came." He finally said.

Robin smiled, "I missed you two…after you left? It was weird coming back to the empty hotel suite."

Barney smiled, "it was weird being alone with her again too, and not having anyone to have normal conversations with."

"We should talk more Barney." She said.

"Yeah, we really should." He agreed and stroked Ellie's hair.

"Anyway, that's why I came. I realized how much I missed the gang, it would be nice to be part of this circle of friends again whenever I'm in New York."

"You always will be Robin, you just have to show up. And things will become less awkward too, like you said, they thought you just met Ellie, so naturally everyone was a little nervous on how you'd react to her, but I think now that they have seen that it's not a big deal for us to be in the same room together, things will be more relaxed."

Robin nodded, "hopefully."

Barney watched Ellie who was kicking the air in slow motion while drinking her bottle.

"I want to talk to you about something." He started slowly.

Robin pulled an eyebrow up, "sounds serious."

Barney nodded, "it is, but I'm just putting it out there, you don't have to make a decision tonight. In fact I'd prefer if you would really think it through before deciding one way or another."

He could see her swallow.

"Robin, I would really want you to be Ellie's legal guardian if anything were to happen to me."

Robin immediately looked down at Ellie when he said it, "nothing's going to happen."

"Probably not, but if it does I'd want her to stay with you. James' kids are already older and he and Tom are eager to have the house to themselves again. Marshall and Lily are great, but I feel like Ellie would just be one of the Erikson kids, and I don't want her to simply blend into another family like that. Ted's too lame, I can't even phantom how that would be, but you…you'd treat her like I do. You see her like I do. She wouldn't be just another kid you are raising, she'd be the center of your universe, and you'd be such an amazing mother and role model to her. You could tell her how her daddy really was, and all the crazy adventures we used to go on."

"Barney you know I'm not good with kids."

"You are great with her though, and it wouldn't matter, you two would figure it out. As I said, I don't want you to decide tonight, just think about it and let me know, okay?"

Robin nodded, and Barney took the almost empty bottle from Ellie's hands and lifted her up, putting her back into the travel crib next to the bed.

She was almost asleep already and he turned the nightlight off and climbed back in bed with Robin.

They ended up snuggling with each other and Barney contemplated whether or not he should take it to the next level. But Ellie was right there and he had a feeling that Robin wouldn't be on board.

…

He woke up because Ellie began to whine, and realized that Robin had never left last night. Their legs were intertwined and her head was resting on his chest.

There was something really nice about waking up like that, and he felt more connected to her than if he'd just slept with her.

"Robin?" he whispered, slowly stroking her shoulder.

She started to stir and subconsciously wrapped her arms tighter around his waist.

"You need to go over to your room, the kids will be up soon and there is no telling where they end up at."

"This is nice though." She replied.

"Yeah, but you don't want Lily finding out about you spending the night here, do you?" he asked.

"Hell no." Robin sat up.

"You could spend tonight at my apartment, there is no-one there to judge us." He suggested.

"I need to leave for the airport around nine."

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Moscow."

He nodded and looked at Ellie who had pulled herself up and was watching them.

"Will you be in New York for Christmas?" he asked.

She shook her head, "I always work over the Holidays, it gives people with families the chance to spend it with them."

Barney nodded.

She got out of bed and pulled Ellie up, and into her arms, "I've got to go babygirl, and I'll probably not have a chance to hold and kiss you later, so I'll just say goodbye to you now."

Barney watched her kiss his daughters hair and smiled.

"See if you can convince your daddy that Australia is a wonderful place to visit." She winked at Barney.

"Hell no. I'm not going half-way around the world with her, I'm still recovering from the flights to and from Spain." Barney replied.

Robin put Ellie onto his chest, "then I guess it's going to be a while before we see each other again."

Barney nodded, "call me?"

"I will."

They looked at each other for a second and Barney contemplated whether or not he should kiss her. But what was the point? She'd be leaving today and wouldn't by back for a while, a kiss would just complicate everything again.

"Take care of yourself, okay? And think about what I said last night." Barney said right before Robin had reached the door.

"I will." She nodded and waved at them before sneaking out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ellie's Birthday**

Barney glanced at the clock ones again, Robin's plane had just landed. He tossed the ball that had escaped Ellie's ball pin back in, which made Ellie laugh and encouraged her to push more out of the mesh door towards him.

Barney couldn't help but laugh himself when she sat right in the middle of the tent like structure and waited for him to throw the balls in again.

"You are such a silly baby." He said while tossing the soft ball back in.

It made her giggle once again.

Barney couldn't believe how big his daughter had gotten, and that she'd be turning one tomorrow.

He and Robin had talked on occasion and Barney had decided to invite her to the party. He was still a little surprised that she had said yes, especially since she was currently stationed in Cuba and it meant flying out here to attend.

He had contemplated whether or not he and Ellie should greet her at the airport, but he had decided against it. This was still new to both of them, and pretending to be something they clearly were not seemed fake. Yes, he was excited that she'd be here. Yes, he had convinced her to stay at his place instead of getting a hotel. But waiting at the airport with Ellie was a step too much.

So he waited for her to get here.

She had wanted to get a hotel room, but he felt bad enough about the costs of the flights already, and they had spend time together in Spain, and more recently even slept in the same bed over Thanksgiving without it being awkward. So Robin had eventually agreed to his invitation to stay here.

"Hey Ellie?" The little girl looked up, "guess what? Aunt Robin will be here soon!"

She got up, but fell over backwards, tried it again and fell two more times by slipping on the balls in the ball pin before making it out and coming over to him, letting herself fall in his lap.

"Remember her? She's daddy's friend we visited at the beach last year."

Ellie had noticed a book laying around and went ahead to get it.

"She's coming just for you." Barney explained while she handed him the book, Barney grinned and waited until she had sat down again before starting to read it to her.

…

"I think that's Robin." Barney exclaimed when the doorbell rang, he picked Ellie up and pushed the buzzer to let her in.

"Hey." Robin greeted him smiling when she saw them in the hallway.

"Hey there." Barney stepped out of the apartment to take her bag from her, "let me."

Robin wrapped her arm around his shoulder to hug him while their hands simultaneously brushed and he took the bag from her.

"Missed you." She whispered while she hugged him.

"We missed you too." Barney replied when Robin drew back.

"Hey Ellie." Robin stroked her hair, "I can't believe how big you got."

Barney turned, and tried to encourage her to take her, but Ellie wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled himself closer to his chest.

"You don't remember me, do you? That's okay." Robin said.

"She's having bad separation anxiety these days, but it's normal, I mean she has never really learned to be away from me." Barney explained.

"Plus she probably really doesn't remember me." Robin shrugged.

They walked into the apartment and Barney let Ellie down, but she immediately raised her hands to get him to pick her up again.

Naturally he obliged.

"She's got you wrapped around her finger, doesn't she?" Robin asked amused.

"Well…you know me and beautiful women." He shrugged, "can I get you something to drink?"

"A water would be great." She said while taking her coat off.

"How was the flight?" he asked.

"Good, I mean it's a real hassle to get to the US from Cuba and vice versa, but the flight via Mexico worked fine." She sat down on the other side of the kitchen island.

"It's really cool that you made the trip though."

"Well, I couldn't miss my soon-to-be-goddaughters birthday, could I?" she asked.

Barney laughed, he was so glad she had decided to let him make her Ellie's godmother.

"We've got an appointment at the notary before you leave for the airport." He told her.

Robin nodded, "sounds good. How does it work? We just sign some sort of paper saying that custody should move to me if anything happens to you?"

"Yeah pretty much, but I've also amended my will a little, Ellie is still legally the only heir, but you'll have full control of all the assets until she's twenty-five."

"Twenty-five, huh?"

"She's my daughter, just in case she doesn't get all the crazy out before she turns eighteen."

"Well, hopefully you will be the one dealing with all the crazy stuff yourself."

Barney nodded, "but still, it really means a lot to know that if anything were to happen, you'd be the one she'd be with."

They smiled at each other for a moment before Robin said, "well, I don't think she'd be as thrilled about it."

"Ellie, you remember Robin, right?" Barney exclaimed excited and bounced her up and down.

…

Three hours later he was snuggling with Ellie on his bed, reading bedtime stories to her while she sipped the strawberry-smoothie he had just made her.

He'd put her travel crib in the bedroom with him, so that Robin could sleep in her room if she wanted to. She would only have an air mattress to sleep on but he thought he'd offer in case she wasn't as keen as he was on sleeping in the same bed together.

"Is she's already asleep?" Robin asked.

Barney shook his head, "no, but soon. Did I tell you that she's a real climber these days? I had to lower her matress to the lowest possible setting to stop her from escaping."

"No way?"

"Way. I actually tied the travel crib to the desk so it won't fall on top of her in case she does climb up on the sides."

"She's so funny." Robin commented.

Barney nodded, "and she'll be a year old tomorrow." He shook his head.

"Weird, huh?"

"It is. I mean…so much has changed, I've never thought I would be a full-time daddy, you know?"

Robin nodded.

"And then seeing her grow up this quickly, it's weird. I kind of wish she'd stay this little."

"Who would have thought that Barney Stinson would get all sentimental over his daughter turning one?" Robin teased him.

"It's a huge deal." He defended himself.

"You surely are making a huge deal out of it." She commented, pointing at the various decorations he had pulled out to show her.

"It's her first birthday, it has to be perfect." He said while pulling a bag with different princess themed decorations towards himself.

"You are so completely adorable." Robin grinned.

"Are you going to help me decorate or what?"

He hadn't actually thought that she would be up for it, but she ended up helping and together they decorated the entire living room.

"It's perfect." Barney grinned as he looked back at the work they had done.

"I can't believe we just turned the fortress of barnitude into this." Robin replied.

"I can't believe _we_ did it." He smiled at her.

Robin nodded, "no kidding."

Barney came closer to her, handing her her glass, "what did you think when you found out I had impregnated a one-night stand?"

"Honestly? I was heartbroken."

He hadn't expected such an honest answer, "why?"

"I know that's selfish, but it hurt. I mean a stupid bimbo was able to give you what you always wanted…" she shrugged.

"Robin that's not…"

"Oh right, shouldn't call the mother of my godchild stupid, huh?" she tried to make a joke out of it.

He walked over to her and took her hands into his, "you were everything I always wanted Robin."

"It's okay Barney, I've come to terms with it." She replied and freed herself from his grasp.

He watched her for a second, unsure of whether or not he should continue to pry or just leave the topic alone.

"We should probably head to bed, huh? Tomorrow will be a long day. Now, I can either offer you my bed, but that entails taking care of Ellie in case she starts crying in the middle of the night, or an air mattress in her room. James has slept on it before and he says it's not that bad."

"Your bed sounds good." She replied.

"You can always come and get me if she wakes up." He said.

"What? You are going to be sleeping there as well, right?" she asked surprised.

"Oh, you meant sleeping together." He faked a surprised look.

"Yeah, _sleeping_ together, not sleeping _together_ though." She clarified.

"I would never assume anything else." He winked.

…

"She's so cute." Robin was standing over the travel crib when he exited the bathroom.

He grinned and turned the bathroom light off and the little nightlight on.

Climbing into bed first, he whispered, "she's usually sleeping through the night now too, but she's probably really excited that it's her birthday, so who knows."

Robin grinned and slipped under the covers as well.

"Good night Barney."

"Night Robin." He replied.

…

He woke up because he could hear Ellie shuffle in the crib. Somehow Robin and he had ended up snuggling and he couldn't really move to sit up and see what Ellie was doing.

He figured she was just moving around a little, maybe finding a more comfortable position.

He couldn't believe it when he felt the bed move a few minutes later, and finally watched Ellie pulling herself up onto the bed by the sheets.

The light was just enough to make out what she was doing, and he had to restrain himself from crawling over there and making sure she wouldn't fall off.

Ellie finally made it and started crawling towards them.

Robin woke up when Ellie placed her hands onto her belly, and started to crawl over her to get to him.

"Ellie…what are you doing here?" he heard Robin whisper.

Ellie hesitated for a second, but then continued her quest and crawled over Robin towards him.

"Ough…" Robin laughed.

Ellie finally settled on his chest, snuggling against him.

"You are such a daddy's girl." Robin whispered tiredly.

Barney was a little surprised that neither of them had noticed that he was secretly watching them.

"That's a good spot though…it's my favorite place in the world too." Robin said while placing her arm around Ellie's little body.

Barney could barely keep himself from smiling about that comment, he didn't want Robin to know that he heard her say that though and was able to contain his excitement.

…

Ellie started stirring and woke both Barney and Robin up.

"What are you doing here?" Barney faked his surprise.

"She came up here last night." Robin muttered.

"By herself? You mean she climbed out of the crib?"

"I guess, she was suddenly in bed with us." Robin yawned.

Ellie had pushed herself up and smiled at Barney.

Barney grinned and looked over to Robin, "ready to sing to her?"

Robin grinned up at him and nodded.

Barney started singing Happy Birthday to Ellie and Robin joined in. The little girl watched them with delight and Robin reached out and stroked her hair.

"Happy Birthday" Barney exclaimed excited once they had finished the song, he kissed Ellie on the cheek before releasing her, "I can't believe you are already a year old."

"Congratulations to you too Barney, you've been an amazing father to her…I'm really proud of how much you changed and stepped up." Robin caressed his cheek with her hand, and then pushed herself up and kissed him gently.

Barney smiled, "thanks."

Robin smiled at him before pushing herself up, "so, how about I get the cake from the bakery while you get Ellie ready for her party?"

Barney nodded, he had invited the gang and some of Ellie's little friends to the party, but since it was Saturday he had planned it kind of early so it wouldn't mess with Ellie's nap.

"Sounds good." Barney replied.

…

Lily, Marshall and their kids were the first to arrive and they all greeted Robin excitedly.

"It's so great that you came." Lily pulled Robin into a hug.

"Yeah, it just worked out well." Robin smiled.

Barney and her had decided to neither tell anyone that she was going to become Ellie's godmother nor that she was staying at Barney's apartment while in New York.

"Well, I think it's great you came." Lily rubbed Robin's arm.

Loretta was the next one to arrive, she didn't notice Robin right away because she was gushing about the decorations and her granddaughter.

"Robin." His mom was clearly taken aback when she noticed her.

"Loretta." Robin nodded.

"I didn't expect to see you here."

Robin smiled, "it's nice to see you too."

"Barney? Can you help me for a second?" his mom turned to him. He nodded and followed her into the kitchen.

"What is she doing here Barney?" his mom hissed once they were standing with their backs to the guests.

"I invited her."

"Why?"

"She's still my friend mom."

"She's your ex-wife. You don't invite your ex-wife to your kids birthday party. I can't believe she came! That's a little bit provoking if you ask me."

"Mom, we are good. I'm really happy she came." Barney whispered.

"Yeah because you never stopped loving her, but she's just toying with you Barney. Yes, you might get a night of fun out of this, but she's sure as hell leaving again, just like she did when you were married. And Ellie? She doesn't need to get attached to someone who isn't going to play a permanent part in her life. She's just a little kid Barney."

"It's just a party." Barney replied.

"It's never just that with you two. You've got to stop this cycle Barney, I mean you've got divorced for crying out loud, she choose her career over you, how can you even stand having her around?"

"Mom, she's still my friend."

"She shouldn't be." Was Loretta's cold reply.

…

It only got worse after that. The other guests arrived and not only did his mom give Robin the cold shoulder, Robin was also clearly uncomfortable around all these kids.

She was standing in the back, playing with her glass. Their eyes met and Barney crooked his head, trying to get her to come over and help with opening the gifts.

She slightly shook her head, and Barney looked back down to Ellie, who was sitting in his lap, and had once again lost interest in the giftwrapped box in front of her. He encouraged her to tear the paper again.

He thought about this morning, and how nice it had been to wake up together, and singing for Ellie.

"This one's from Robin." Lily handed him another gift and Barney smiled up at Robin, before leaning down to help Ellie open it.

Barney realized what it was and laughed out loud, holding the little blond wig, the bedazzled jeans jacket and microphone up.

"This is awesome!" he exclaimed.

It was clear that he was the only one who thought so. The other guests just shared confused looks, and even the gang exchanged worried looks.

"What? It's really great." Barney told Ted.

"It's a chocking hazard." His bro pointed out.

Barney starred at him, had he seriously just said _that_?

"It's awesome." Barney mumbled, and looked back over to where Robin had been standing, but she was gone.

"Lily? Can you…" he pointed at Ellie and got up while Lily came over.

He found Robin in the bathroom, standing in front of the sink.

"Hey." He whispered while putting his arms around her, pulling her against himself.

"You said she loved to play dress-up." Robin explained.

"It's the best gift of all time." Barney whispered.

Robin took a deep breath, "I shouldn't have come."

"What?"

"I just don't belong here anymore Barney."

"That's bullshit, you will always belong here, and fyi, I expect you to attend every one of Ellie's birthday parties."

"I'm just not compatible with this kind of crowd, and your mom is this close to stabbing me." She held two fingers up.

"I'll tackle her if she tries." He joked.

Robin turned around, "what are you even doing in here Barney? You should be out there, celebrating with your daughter. Come on…I'm sorry I ran in here, causing drama."

"Hold on." He caught her hand, "I don't think you are being a drama queen at all, I'm so excited that you are here at all, giving this a chance. I mean…if the table would be turned I'd probably not show up to any birthday parties. You are really putting yourself out there for Ellie, and I appreciate that a lot."

Robin smiled, "thanks Barn."

He nodded and stroked her hand with his thumb before letting go and exiting the bathroom with her.

…

"Ready for bed babygirl?" Barney hummed while placing Ellie in her real crib.

She immediately got up again.

"Wasn't that a fun day? And all those new toys?" Barney smiled and put her nightlight as well as her lullaby on.

She complained a little and Barney kneeled down and whispered, "you know how you played with Robin all afternoon? Well, now it's my turn to play with her, so can you please do me a favor and fall asleep quickly?"

He realized how creepy that had come out and chuckled.

"Good night Ellie, I love you." He got up and stroke her head.

…

Robin was already lying in bed, watching some sort of documentary on his giant TV when he entered the bedroom.

He put the babyphone down and grinned down at her.

"What?" she asked.

He shrugged, "well…I was thinking, Ellie is in her own room tonight, and we are probably due for another backslide." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"You are always so romantic and subtle when you propose sex lately."

He slipped under the covers, "what do you think?"

Robin grinned and turned the TV off, "I think you deserve a little something for surviving the first year of parenthood."

"Oh really?" he asked and kissed her.

"Yeah." She grinned against his lips.

"So I just probably just lay back and relax?" he asked.

"That's just what I was about to suggest." She grinned while pushing him back.

…

"Well if you don't have any other questions." The notary paused to see their reactions.

Barney shook his head and bounced Ellie on his leg.

"Then you just need to sign." He pushed the papers towards them.

He could feel Robin's eyes on him as he signed the papers before pushing them over to her.

She smiled at him before signing herself.

The gratitude of what they had just done hit him, and he couldn't help but smile. He loved the thought of Ellie staying in the family if something would ever happen to him.

He leaned over and kissed her, while her arm moved around Ellie's body.


End file.
